YEREVAN. – The Istanbul Convention is an unconstitutional law. Seyran Saroyan, retired general and ex-MP of Armenia, said this at a press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s written in the constitution [of Armenia] that I’m the dad of this house, and my wife is the mom, and my sons have both a dad and a mom,” Saroyan added. “[But] now [with the Istanbul Convention] they want to muddle all this.”

To the reminder that the convention was signed by the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia, he responded: “We’ve made a mistake that we’ve signed it. Let homosexuals live for themselves.”

Saroyan expressed the confidence that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not let the Istanbul Convention be ratified by Armenia.

As for the chances of the resumption of operations of the Amulsar gold mine, Seyran Saroyan said: “There are authorities—which are the legitimate authorities we have elected—to decide that matter.

“Now, do we know more than our government? They are the 80 percent of the NA [National Assembly]. So, don’t they know what they need to do?”